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 Rated: R
Sgt.
Brandon King, honored war hero, returns home to Texas from his tour of duty in
Iraq shortly after a skirmish that ended with the death of some of his squad
after he led them into a blind alley.
Distraught with the memories, but happy that he will be mustered out
within days, Brandon parties with retuning buddies Burgess (Gordon-Levitt) and
Shriver (Tatum).
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Timothy Olyphant, Ciaran Hinds
Directed by: Kimberly Peirce
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On the day before his final
discharge he gets a letter to report to the command headquarters where he finds
out that he has been ‘stop lossed', a clause in the recruiting contract that
allows the government to retain soldiers beyond their term.
Distressed by the unexpected turn of events, Brandon flees the
induction and seeks help from a congressman who promised to help him with any
of his needs. When things don’t go as
planned, Brandon
has to make a choice between two undesirable options.
The
writing/directing by Price, although commendable at times (especially during
the battle scenes and use of a home video camera that makes the characters seem
more personal), wanders too much with the plot getting the audience involved in
several side stories that end with unrealistic resolve from the character build
up presented.
The side stories are very
touching, but somewhat idealistic, especially that of Rico Rodriguez (Rasuk)
who gets maimed in the opening scene and later shows him in a stateside
hospital with an unlikely attitude about his disability.
The
acting by Gordon-Levit in his side story depicting the weak side of his
character is very chilling. Letting
alcohol control the demons that he acquired in battle, Burgess flips much like
reports of some of the troops returning from Viet Nam. His story could have made a good separate
feature film.
The character I
enjoyed most was that of Ida King (Emond), who as Brandon’s mother will do anything to make
sure her son gets what he desires most.
In one scene, Ida, in fear that she will loose Brandon after finding out
that he has to go back to Iraq, grabs him and tells him she’ll drive him to
Mexico. It’s probably what would go
through any mother’s mind after living in fear of his life all the years her
son has been at war, but Emond expresses it best.
If you are into
films like In The Valley of Elah where returning soldiers are haunted by
the war in Iraq,
or The Kingdom where the fight against terrorism involves being trapped
in urban mid-eastern alleys defending themselves against an uncertain enemy
that includes innocent bystanders, then Stop-Loss should be on your
short list of films to see.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Stop-Loss
has some very powerful moments, but for a date film it’s too violent and for
mature male adults and teens it’s a little too rambling.
This Reviewer's Rating:   3 / 5
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